How do designers quickly transform to do VR design?

This article is based on Google's senior designer Jean Denis, compiled and partially refined and supplemented. Denis joined the Cardboard team in 2015, from traditional Internet product design to VR product design, he shared his own experience.

Compared to traditional design, VR is a new field. There are too many new knowledge to learn, so first you need to know a few interesting things:

Sketches are at the heart of all tasks. Sketches are undoubtedly the most efficient way in the collision and design phases of thinking. After transforming the VR product designer, the sketches of the paintings may be more than the previous professional paintings.

Learn a lot of design skills. Learning any design skills can be a huge help in designing VR products.

Photography knowledge is very important. You often interact with photographic concepts such as field of view, depth of field, caustics, exposure, etc. Understanding optical and photographic knowledge can be a huge advantage.

Use 3D tools. The more 3D tools you know, the less skills you need to learn. In the design process, you are likely to encounter a variety of domain knowledge, such as architecture, characters, props, rigging, UV maps, textures, mechanics, particles and so on.

Dynamic design is very important. As designers, we know how to deal with devices with clear physical boundaries, but VR has no boundaries, so the way of thinking in design is different. "The way in which elements appear and disappear" will no longer be an issue we consider.

Knowing the technology will be much more efficient. Python, C#, C++, or other languages ​​will help you better understand the design. Due to the characteristics of Internet iterative development, there will be high-frequency production requirements for product prototypes, but the problem is that the field of VR is too new. It is very likely that the interaction method you are designing is unprecedented, and you cannot learn from existing materials. The more popular Unity and UE4 engines have recently integrated a lot of source code, and there are also a lot of tutorials and resources in the active game and VR developer community.

Stay sensitive and embrace the unknown. There are many changes in the VR field every day. Even the giant companies are crossing the river by feeling the stones. As individuals, we must remain curious, constantly change ourselves and learn quickly.

First, the team role

The new carrier of VR opens up too many new possibilities, and the structure of the product design team will evolve.

In terms of team roles, two points are important:

First, about the core user experience, user interface and interaction design. In these respects, there is not much difference with the traditional product team structure. It is still these divisions: visual, UI, UX, dynamics, research, and prototype design. Each character will adapt to the new design principles brought by the VR carrier and also establish a close relationship with the engineers. The goal of the product team remains the same: to create faster iterations and explore more design possibilities.

Second, the content team will also replicate the model of the indie game studio, from a one-of-a-kind experience to a 3A-level game that hits the market. VR, like the entertainment industry we know, has a similar development path and needs to create a quality end-to-end experience.

To a certain extent, there is not much difference in the transformation VR design, but only the strong perseverance is required to learn a lot of domain knowledge.

Second, the basis of VR design

1. Basic rules

This section focuses on some of the basics of VR design, product-oriented, and as far as possible in the most common language.

The latest elements in VR design are "new dimensions" and "immersion." We need to know some intrinsic design criteria - follow the physiological characteristics, cut in from the user scene, and carefully consider the feasibility of each interaction. In response to these design guidelines, Google has developed an app that includes these guidelines (Googleplay Search Cardboard Design Lab).

You can also go to see Alex's speech video at this year's Google I/O conference, which is more in-depth. The following is a summary of the content.

Two important guiding principles:

1) Do not drop frames

2) Maintain good head tracking

Humans instinctively react to some external events, and these instinctive reactions are often difficult to recognize at the time of design, so we have to propose solutions in the design.

Physiologically comfortable. For example, the most famous "motion sickness", so we should be careful when using "acceleration" and "deceleration" to try to maintain a smooth line of sight.

The environment is comfortable. People may feel diversified "discomfort" in certain scenes, such as in high places (high fear), small spaces (claustrophobia), vast spaces (wild phobia), and so on. Pay attention to the size of the object and be careful to collide. For example, if a person throws stones at you, you instinctively will evade or seize it to protect yourself. Make these features an advantage in your application, not a disadvantage.

You can take advantage of the user's sensory features to help you design more immersive products, and get a lot of inspiration from the game industry, such as:

1) 3D sound effect in spatial position

2) Guide of the light path

Don't let users get too tired. This is a common problem for VR design novices. There are often anti-ergonomic designs in Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters. These designs can make users feel uncomfortable. For example, the gesture interaction in the "Massage Report" starring Atango is not. Suitable for long-term use.

Look at the picture below, the head movement safety area in the two-dimensional coordinate system. Green is a comfortable area, yellow is barely acceptable, and red is a must.

Poor design can lead to more serious problems.

For example, have you heard of the "text message neck"? A paper in the field of neurological and spinal surgery showed that when the head turns to a different position, it exerts different pressure on the neck. Changing the head from the center of the horizontal position to the front will increase the pressure on the neck by 440%. Muscles and ligaments will feel tired and painful; nerves will be stretched; the cartilage layer will be stressed. All of these bad behaviors can lead to serious chronic diseases like permanent nerve damage.


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